Goodbye 2023, Welcome 2024

Last year when we discovered New Year’s Day was going to be a Sunday, it created a challenge. New Year’s Eve is perhaps the biggest holiday in Latino culture, with staying out all night being the norm, regardless of age. I wondered what to do about worship that Sunday. Should we move it to Saturday, make it later in the day? Cancelling wasn’t any option for me. I decided that we were going to stay with the 10:45 time, but we weren’t going to even try to have a normal Sunday service. Instead of rows of chairs, everyone was seated at a table. The welcome table had pastries and hot chocolate. We started worship with paper to write prayer requests. At the conclusion of worship, we headed outside where we prayed as we sent our petitions to God in the flames of a fire. Everyone appreciated the worship so much that we returned to a similar format again this year. Those of you who were at 10:45 service this year on December 31 were probably wondering what was happening in the parking lot.

I believe that our New Year’s prayers transcend culture and you can pray them, even if it’s not January 1 on the calendar when you read this article.

Prayers for Letting Go of Pain
In the past year, we experienced moments of both physical and emotional pain. We experienced loss and worry. Living Lord, Your love has held us as you walked alongside us during our moments of suffering. Even in our darkest moments, you never left our side. Now may your hope and healing lead us to a place of restoration. Help us to be strong enough to forgive those who have hurt us. Help us to see that forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. Help us to be free from resentment and anger. As our prayers of pain turn to ash, may we also let go of our pain from this past year and beyond.

Prayers of Thanksgiving
In the past year, we have had moments of blessings big and small. Help us to remember to approach life with gratitude. We thank you for the small moments that brought us quiet moments of beauty: a painted sky at sunrise, shared laughter, and a million moments that we have already forgotten. We thank you for the big moments: the arrival of babies, marriages, success at work, and other things we lift up to you. We send our prayers of thanksgiving to you.

Prayers of Hopes and Dreams
Dear God, With the new year, we have the opportunity for a fresh start to achieve our goals and dreams. We ask that you give us the wisdom to make the right choices to achieve these dreams and the strength to persevere. While we hope for a path without obstacles, allow us to learn from the difficulties we face. Teach us to understand that what we hope for may not be what is best for us in the long run, and to have faith in your plan. Help us to maintain our goodness in our efforts to achieve dreams. We know that you want what is best for us and we are grateful for the blessings that will come to us in the next year. In our prayers and in the flames, we send to you our prayers for our hopes for 2024. 

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. (Psalm 141:2)

Happy New Year!

Pastor Edwin

New Beginnings

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”   2 Corinthians 5:17

Do you ever stop and think about why we celebrate New Year’s Day? Afterall, it’s really just another day, so why is it so important for people to mark a date change on a calendar?

I would guess it’s because a new year offers a new beginning, the chance to start fresh. There’s a reason January is the most important month of the year for gyms and diet programs because it seems like a fresh chance to start again and improve yourself. It seems like a natural time for beginning something, which is why I think lots of people make New Year’s resolutions (whether they stick to them or not is another story).

The Christian life offers lots of opportunities for fresh starts, for changing what we’ve been doing or beginning to live differently. In worship, we regularly begin with a time of confession where we admit what we’ve done wrong. We admit to God and to each other that our lives aren’t perfect, that we’re not living the way we should live, that we’re doing things we shouldn’t do and failing to do things we should do.

Then, immediately after confession, we hear God’s response. We hear the good news that because of God’s forgiveness, because God loves us, we all get a fresh start. The slate is wiped clean. We don’t need to carry the weight of our sins or guilt with us anymore. We are forgiven!

And then we run into the next week (or maybe just the next day…or the next couple of minutes) and it doesn’t take long before we stumble again. It doesn’t take long for us to forget about what God has done for us. We take the burden that Jesus has taken from us, and we pick it back up and start trying to carry the weight of our own faults and failings again. But we always have another opportunity to remember God’s love because God never gets tired of forgiving us!

News flash…we don’t have to wait for a new year to have a fresh start. Each day offers us the opportunity to wake up and remember that we are a child of God. We have been claimed, redeemed, forgiven, and set free by Jesus Christ.

Today we have the opportunity to say goodbye to the old and welcome in the new. Today we have the chance to start over again and begin to live a new life in Christ. With this in mind, I pray that your resolutions and mine will all lead toward the peace and joy on earth that we celebrate in the birth of Jesus at Christmas. And perhaps our new beginning can start with learning more about God’s grace and love for us, and then sharing that love with one another.

Blessings on all your new beginnings!

~Pastor Tony

Merry Christmas!

“Still in these first days of this new year we hear the words, Merry Christmas as the church celebrates the season of Christmas through January 6th when the feast of Epiphany arrives, and the Magi arrive at the manger. It is an awfully full schedule–from the travel arrangements to Bethlehem to lost hotel reservations and a stay in a manger to a birthing room without medical insurance or assistance to early visitors smelling of sheep. Finally, just as we expect Mary and Joseph to take some time to rest from their journey—the Magi knock on the door. “More visitors,” shouts Joseph. Mary pulls herself together one more time and pastes on a plastic smile to greet the visitors from the East. The Magi come bearing gifts, but more importantly, they arrive with stories of a star in the sky that appears around the time of the birth of Mary’s son. A star that shines brighter than the rest and calls the Magi to follow. It is the same star that calls us to follow. Once again, we have followed the star to the manger. Once again, we pray for the hope of God to overwhelm us. Epiphany is the season of light. And after 2016, I am in desperate need for the light of God’s promise to continue to call us and the rest of the world—first, to the manger and then to go into the world to tell the story of God’s love and promise.

I find it amusing that the words above were written to you in the first days of 2017. It is amusing that I would easily write these same words to you in these first days of 2024. Apparently, I am still in desperate need for the light of God’s promise to overwhelm us. Some things change. Some things never change. Maybe what is needed to change is me. In that spirit, I offer you this prayer for the new year. No resolutions to promise and break. No, this year, a prayer to “make something new in me, in this year, for God.”

From Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder …

Patient God, the clock struck midnight and I partied with a strange sadness in my heart, confusion in my mind.

Now, I ask you to gather me, for I realize the storms of time have scattered me, the furies of the year past have driven me, many sorrows have scarred me, many accomplishments have disappointed me, much activity has wearied me, and fear has spooked me into a hundred hiding places, once is which is pretended joy.

I am sick of a string of “have-a-nice-days.” What I ant is passionate days, wondrous days, dangerous days, surprising days. What I want is you!

Patient God, the day teeters on the edge of waiting and things seem to slip away from me, as though everything were only memory and memory is capricious. Help me not to let my life slip away from me. O God, I hold up my life to you now, as much as I can, as high as I can, in this mysterious reach called prayer. Come close, lest I wobble and fall short. It is not days or years I seek from you, not infinity and enormity, but small things and moments and awareness, awareness that you are in what I am and in what I have been indifferent to. It is not new time, but new eyes, new heart I seek, and you.

Patient God, in this teetering time, this time in the balance, this time of waiting, make me aware of moments, moments of song, moments of bread and friends, moments of jokes ( some of them on me) which, for a moment, deflate my arrogance; moments of sleep and warm beds, moments of children laughing and parents bending, moments of sunsets and sparrows outspunking winter, moments when splinters shine and rocks shrink, moments when I know myself blessed, not because I am so awfully important, but because you are so awesomely God, no less of the year to come as of all the years past; no less of this moment than of all my moments; no less of those who forget you as of those who remember, as I do now, in this teetering time.

O Patient God, make something new in me, in this year, for you. Amen.

Perhaps this can be your prayer, as well, in this new year. Happy New Year People of God. Be Well!

Pastor Chris

A Month of Service

December was an amazing month for Mission Outreach activity. So many people were involved in a variety of outreach events. We thank the group involved in planning the parade Moving Posada for all the work. We especially thank Carol and Steve Spieker for their dreaming, planning and coordinating this new event for getting Ascension out into the community in a fun way to emphasize our multi-cultural congregation. Thanks for all the hard work.
Thank you to the Marien family for serving the Healing Hearts meal in December. The participants loved the pizza. This is the third monthly meal for Healing Hearts that Ascension has provided. Thank you for the generous donations and the friendly servers.

Thank you to the AMEN ministries for the 55 pairs of men’s and women’s long underwear that were donated to the Hope Center. AMEN also serves meals at the Hope Center twice a month with two to four men helping each time.

Thank you to Linda Hansen’s Thursday Nurture Group for coordinating the Giving Tree for the Christmas Clearing Council. $1500 of gift cards were presented to the Christmas Clearing Council to help families have gifts for their children. This was the best year ever for this outreach.

Ascension sent $2300 to El Salvador to provide Christmas kits with basic food staples to allow the families in San Jorge to have a simple meal for Christmas. Thank you to everyone that has contributed to our appeal for backpacks and tennis shoes as the children in San Jorge prepare to begin a new school year in January.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED IN ANY WAY!

Community Outreach Meeting: Community Outreach Committee will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 6:30 to plan outreach activities for 2024. If you have an interest in outreach, please join us. New ideas are always welcome. Community Outreach involves: Reaching Out, Inviting In, Gathering In and Walking With. This is our opportunity to get involved in the community, invite others to Ascension activities or services, seek out those who have not been in worship for a while and become more deliberate in our ways we welcome visitors. Contact Shirley Wehmeier, at shwehemeier@gmail.com, or just show up for the meeting.

Follow the Mission Outreach Facebook page to keep up with our community and global partners and our outreach events.

El Salvador Trip Information Meeting: After a long five years since our last trip to visit our sister parishes in El Salvador, we will be returning in the summer of 2024. We will be there for about a week at the end of July /beginning of August. It will be a time of learning about the ministries of our sister parishes, exploring opportunities for future shared projects (which likely will include eating lots of chocolate), cultural excursions, and building friendships with the members of San Jorge church. We have our first informational meeting on Sunday, Jan. 14, following late church. Contact Sarah Wehmeier Aparicio, sarah@ascensionelca.org, with any questions.

Community Partners
Ascension has multiple community partners, which are agencies within the community that carry out the Matthew 25 promise: “Whatever you do for the least of these, you have done unto Me.” As we follow Jesus’ words, we realize we can often do it better by joining with others who are similarly focused. We will be lifting up our community partners over the next months.

Our current community partners are: Waukesha County Food Pantry, Hope Center, Hebron Housing Services, Hawthorne School, Habitat for Humanity, SOPHIA, NAMI, Healing Hearts, and the Christmas Clearing Council. One of the things we look for is that the agency does not just expect financial donations but that there is an opportunity for in-kind donations and for volunteer service. We want to be able to build a relationship with the partner and respond to their needs not just our perception of what they might need. We practice accompaniment with local community partners just the same as with our global partners. We feature their specific needs through our Mission Outreach Facebook page so that there is always a timely request. Watch also in the e-alerts and bulletin for announcements as needs arise. We are always looking for leadership for the partners so if you have a real passion for a partner, please contact Shirley Wehmeier, shwehemeier@gmail.com, so we can link you up with a partner. We would like to develop Partnership Pals where each partner has two or more people who become the champion for the partner.

Healing Hearts
Healing Hearts is one of our community partners. Healing Hearts provides free, local peer groups for children, youth and families who grieve a loss due to death, divorce, addiction, incarceration, deportation or military deployment. Healing Hearts has been providing services since 2009 and depends on trained volunteers to provide the support the children, youth and families need. They also depend on volunteers to provide quick meals the night of their groups so that families are fed before participating in the group. Ascension has been asked to commit to serving meals on a regular basis. The meals need to be quick to serve so that they can get to their sessions. Ascension served three times in 2023 and volunteers reported that it was a great experience. We use a sign-up genius to get food donated from the congregation. This has been a successful way to include people who may be looking for a simple way to get involved. Our first meal included 5 new members who either served or donated food. Watch the announcements for the dates of our next meals. Teri Quam is coordinating this opportunity.

Ready for Advent

I am ready for Advent. For blue fabrics that wash over the altar and candles that are lit each week reminding us of the journey we will travel to the manger – walking with the companions of hope, peace, joy, and love. I am ready for Advent. I am ready for “Deck the Halls of Ascension” and the CRASH Progressive Dinner. I am ready for our Advent concert worship and Sunday brunch and the Children’s Christmas program and treasured carols and celebrating Las Posadas and being in the sanctuary on Christmas Eve all together hearing the Christmas story. I am ready for Advent.

Personally, it has been quite a journey these last three months. I am glad to be back in the routine of worship on Sundays and the “stuff” of ministry during the week. I want to offer my deep appreciation to you for the time and space for surgery and healing.

I am hopeful that the season of Advent will offer me the opportunity to rebalance my spiritual life. If the season of Advent offers us anything, it offers us the chance to begin again. I need that chance more this year than ever before. I wonder if you are feeling that way too.

Advent is the season of expectation. Advent is also about tending our hunger for all that God promises to make new in the birth of a Savior. If ever we have hungered for God to do a new thing it may be this year, this December, this Advent. I am hungry for God to usher in peace into our world: for an end to hostilities in Ukraine; for a ceasefire in Gaza; for tolerance between sides; for acceptance of those who are different; for joy in the midst of sorrow.

I sat with members of the church a couple of weeks ago in the ICU as we prayed around the bedside of someone we loved. It does not matter how many times I sit at the bedside of someone I know in the ICU, it never gets easier. At Waukesha Memorial, the ICU only has so many rooms. When I walk into the ICU, the memories of other bedside visits gather with me like a cloud of witnesses. Every name, every face is reminded to me – moments of laughter and tears. The ICU has become a sanctuary of holy ground. The sounds of heartbeats and heart monitors intermingle in the waiting space of the ICU. Every family walks their own journey through their days in the ICU. As always, being invited into such sacred space is more privilege than anything else.

Following in the footsteps of Mary and Joseph in these Advent days is also a privilege. One we often take lightly. A journey I wish to feel deeper this year as I reflect on the hardship of the census Mary and Joseph had to endure so close to Mary’s date of delivery. What Mary must have thought to herself about the adventure and journey God placed upon her heart and soul when the angel Gabriel visited Mary to share the news of what was about to take place.

It is my hope that these Advent days will offer you moments of reflection at the dinner table, over coffee, while washing dishes or wrapping gifts. Moments of reflection that would give you pause to remember and give thanks while also inviting you to reflect and reach out. Who do you know who would welcome a phone call, a text message, fresh baked cookies to bring a smile to their face? Especially those who are preparing to walk through their first Christmas without someone they love.

I am reminded that every one of us is on a journey in these Advent days. For some of us the journey is a choice – for others, the journey has been pressed upon us. Regardless of how we find ourselves setting out on the journey, I hope you remember that you are not alone. Thanks be to God!

May the blessings of your Advent journeys always lead you home this Christmas.

O come let us adore him! Christ the Lord. Peace and joy be yours.

Pastor Chris

Making Room

“And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”  – Luke 2:7

When Pastor Edwin first introduced Las Posadas at Ascension I was intrigued because it’s a part of the Christmas story that’s not often focused on. Las Posadas is a Spanish religion festival commemorating the journey that Mary and Joseph made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of safe refuge where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus. Mary and Joseph move from place to place searching for lodging, but at each stop they are told “There is no room for you here” and are sent away.

I was captivated by the energy being poured into telling this important part of the Christmas story because it illustrates a profound message for us during the Christmas season: Do I make room for Jesus?

At my best, I hope the answer is yes. I hope that my words and actions every day reflect Jesus – that my life is a witness to God’s love. I hope that I’m living out my faith and listening to the nudges from the Holy Spirit to take advantage of the opportunities God gives me to love and care for my neighbors.

But I know that my answer isn’t always yes. Life is busy, and I’m human. Even as a pastor in full-time ministry, there are plenty of times when I miss chances to reflect God’s love, or even find myself intentionally avoiding doing something I know God would want me to do. I suspect this may be true for you as well. It’s so easy for the busy-ness of life to push aside our connection with God. I find it ironic that this seems especially true during the Christmas season!

The Christmas story is a story about making room. Mary made room when she said yes to God, “…Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Joseph made room when he accepted the angel’s explanation of his fiancé’s pregnancy and changed his mind about ending their relationship, “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife.” (Matthew 1:24)

The shepherds in the fields made room by taking a break from the demands of their job, leaving their flocks, and hurrying to Bethlehem to see the newborn baby in the manger, then spreading the good news all over town, “So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child.” (Luke 2:16-17)  The Magi made room by leaving their homes and traveling to a far-away land on faith that a star would lead them to a king, “…Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?  For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” (Matthew 2:2)  And of course, God is the one who started it all, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

So, what are the ways we can make room in our heart, our calendar, and our lives for Jesus? Maybe it will be welcoming a new family moving into our neighborhood, or generously helping someone whose needs are greater than what they have to offer, or perhaps it will look like something in-between. Whatever it is, as you and I celebrate this Christmas season and beyond, I pray we will simply open ourselves to whatever the Holy Spirit is doing to help us make room for what God is doing in our lives and in our world. Merry Christmas!

Pastor Tony

Life’s Moments

The Advent season has arrived, and with it also the end of another liturgical year in this continuous journey of faith as Christians. But what has this year that we are about to end left us? The answers will of course be different because each of us experiences different moments in our lives. The book of Ecclesiastes of the Old Testament tells us: Everything has its time, moment of birth and moments of death, moments to plant and moments to harvest, moments to hurt and moments to heal, moments to cry and moments to laugh, moments to scatter stones and moments to pile up, moments to welcome and moments to say goodbye.

Surely many of us identify with some, if not all, of these moments as we come to the end of the year. I experienced many of those moments this year. Moments to laugh and celebrate when I clicked send to submit my final paper for seminary, moments to laugh and celebrate with my family and all of you at my graduation, moments to celebrate and laugh when you said yes to call me as your third pastor, moments of welcome, hospitality and celebration with the visit of the delegation of El Salvador for my ordination and installation. Moments of tears, death and farewell were present two months after my ordination with the death of my father. Moments to continue planting the gospel and continue harvesting in our ministry, moments to celebrate welcoming new members, moments to celebrate baptisms and welcome them to the body of Christ, moments to continue keeping our multicultural traditions alive in our ministry and more.

In the church, these moments of life are built into the church year with the different seasons: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent and Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost. We begin the church year with the anticipation of the birth of Jesus. As is tradition, our church celebrates Advent and Christmas in a multicultural way. It is the church’s moment of a time of  quiet reflection and anticipation, although expressed in different ways.

The Latino ministry will celebrate the Annunciation with mariachi at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 12, as a way of bringing our Lutheran theology to the traditional festival of Guadalupe. If you would like to join us and learn about this tradition, you are invited to wake up early and bring a breakfast dish to share.

Another of the moments we will have is Las Posadas with mariachi. On Saturday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m., we will hold a procession outside the church and accompany the Holy Family during their time in Bethlehem looking for an inn. At last, an innkeeper will welcome us with a banquet, music and piñata! We hope you will join us.

In the Latino world, the big party is Christmas Eve. Families gather and celebrate all night long. Some of their celebrations can last until dawn. Santa rarely visits homes in Spanish-speaking countries. Families may exchange a gift on Christmas, New Year’s or Three Kings Day, so without the arrival of Santa, there’s no need for an early Christmas Eve. Latino families in the United States are visited by Santa, but the tradition of an all-night party remains.

As I mentioned at the beginning, everything has its moment. It could be that this year for you has been full of many good and bad moments, loneliness, anxiety, mourning, joy, etc., but during this time of Advent and Christmas let us remember the phrases that the prophet Isaiah tells us: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Regardless of where you find yourself this season, may it also be a season of peace for you.

Pastor Edwin

Rejoice Always

I will never tire of hearing the phrase “welcome back.”

On October 15th, I think I heard that more than anything else. As I was reflecting that Sunday afternoon, I realized that I am usually the one who is saying that to one member or another who is home after vacation or an extended time away in Florida or Arizona or some other warm and toasty location without the presence of a snow shovel. The “welcome back” offered by so many of you was a tender and cherished gift to my soul. As one of your pastors, I forgot that the fabric of this community of faith is woven into my life. Don’t get me wrong, the first few weeks after surgery were all about survival. My wife asking me, begging me, to eat just a couple more bites after I had eaten two bites of the meal before me and declared I was full. Or the all-important decision to determine whether I would get out of the recliner. Do I really want to use that much strength just to get up for a drink of water? I am grateful to be at the 8-week mark of recovery as I have reclaimed strength and ownership of my body that in some ways you give away to surgical team and pain management team and allergy team and diabetes team wondering when you will be allowed to go home from the hospital.

If you are interested: Yes, I have lost weight – about 30 lbs. They say it will take about a year to begin to regain some of that weight. For the record, at week 8, I am a full diabetic on small amounts of insulin four times a day. The islet cells have until November 15th to engraft fully into their new home in my liver. It is not expected that I will be insulin independent, but any blood sugar regulation from my remaining islet cells will be a welcome addition to the rest of my life. I have had to remind myself often that the success of the surgery was the eviction of the pancreas, and no more ER visits and hospital stays for pancreatitis. No more pancreatitis pain. Thanks be to God! The trade-off of being a diabetic was always a possible outcome. So far, the journey of diabetes has been manageable and with several members, colleagues, and friends managing their own diabetic journey – I have learned a lot and found support and strength in the living resources all around me.

As it is the middle of October, your pastors are neck deep in faith interviews with our confirmands. I am always impressed, not with the learning from Thursday nights in JOLT, but with the reflections and questions of our 9th grade students as they begin to understand their relationship with God as their own and not through the lens and reflection of the faith of their parents. There are deep questions around one’s purpose and how one might live out their faith. So often, I am surprised at the thoughtful reflection as to the simplicity of living out our faith. It is always a surprise to me, as adults, that we often make living out our faith far more complicated than it needs to be or actually is in this life. It is the simplicity of using our hands and voices to tend someone who is suffering that brings our faith to life while deepening our relationship with God.

In my sermon on the 15th, I shared the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” From the time it was established, the church at Philippi was healthy, strong, and generous, becoming a model church. It is no wonder that I am drawn to these words of Paul’s letter. The church I currently serve as pastor is also healthy, strong, and generous. What a gift for the people of Ascension to know their purpose so clearly as we gather to worship, share in the care of others, and provide for sisters and brothers we have not or may never meet far beyond our walls. This is who God calls to be and what God calls us to be about – sharing the love of God through worship and our actions as we grow closer together in community while reaching out beyond the walls of Ascension. The story of who we are, as people of faith, continues to be told as we welcome new friends to our worship life.

The month of November brings the gift of All Saints Day on Sunday, Nov. 5. We will gather at each of our worship services to remember the names of those who have died in this community of believers throughout the past year. We will speak names, light candles, remember, and give thanks for the faithful witness and love shared with us through these saints we will one day meet at the gates of heaven. All Saints Day is one of the most sacred days of worship for me. On almost every All Saints Day, I share with you the belief of the Celtic Christian Community that shares the news that the veil between heaven and earth is somehow thinner on this day of remembrance. Whether or not, you choose to share that belief, I am struck by the emotion of the day as memories come flooding back to me of so many, I have said goodbye to in this life. Yet more important than the memories, I think, is the revelation of God’s promise of reunion. I hold on to that promise with all my strength. It is, after all, God’s promise of resurrection joy that grounds us in this life as we look to the life to come. 

Before we know it, an annual meeting on Nov. 12th at 9:45 a.m. will see us preparing for our next year of ministry and mission to the glory of God. Finally, the end of November will bring us to welcome news of the beginning of Advent. Wednesday night, Nov. 29, at 6:30 p.m., will offer us the invitation to worship with quiet candlelight as we welcome the season of Advent. We will be surrounded in song, tended in prayer, and blessed by the light of candles as we enter into the season of darkness that prepares us for the coming of a Savior who saves us all.

What a blessing you are to me and to so many. It is so good to be with you once again.

Pastor Chris

Practicing Thankfulness

Being thankful and taking stock of our blessings tends to rise this time of year because of the Thanksgiving holiday that comes around on the fourth Thursday each November. Typically, many think of Thanksgiving as an opportunity to pause, gather, reflect, and give thanks. However, the chaos that continues to rise around the world threatens to upend much of what we look forward to each Thanksgiving.

Politics have left many divided, troubled, and exhausted and the anger and violence taking place in so many places, including within our own communities and families has left many of us nervous over the uncertainty and instability taking place around the world. 

As a spiritual practice I’ve tried to be intentional about taking time each day to think about what is means to truly give thanks to God, to live with a thankful heart, and to reflect a thankful life – especially one that goes beyond a holiday. But living a thankful life isn’t always easy, and it can be especially difficult during challenging times like the ones we find ourselves in at this moment. So, while living a thankful life isn’t necessarily complicated, it does however require intentionality about making a choice to be thankful.

But in order to do that I think it’s helpful for us to have a guide. And while Jesus is certainly number one, another great example for us is Paul and his letter to the Colossians. Despite what he was suffering personally, locked away in prison along with the many reasons he had to be angry, fearful, and despairing – he nevertheless remained thankful. “We always thank God,” he begins (Colossians 1:3). He could have begun his letter with complaining, and instead he punctuates his letter with profound thankfulness (Colossians 1:12; 2:7; 3:15–17; 4:2), and each chapter captures another element of healthy, God-glorifying thankfulness.

Giving thanks to God can be difficult and it’s generally not our first reaction when we find ourselves in the midst of disappointment, anxiety, stress, or fear. And although these are normal and natural responses to circumstances such as those taking place in our world right now, the apostle Paul shows us that there are things that still remain to be grateful for. Amid all the challenging things taking place in our world and in each of our daily lives – there remains opportunities to laugh, to connect, to work, to love, to care, and to find ways to enjoy life. 

As Paul nears the end of his letter, he emphatically stresses the fundamental and spiritual importance of thankfulness. Notice how he repeats himself: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:15–17)

Did you catch the theme – Let peace rule in your hearts with thankfulness. Let praise rise up from your mouths with thankfulness. Let all that you say and do – let it all be done in thankfulness. Whatever you do – even in a shifting and uncertain world, even amid political upheaval, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health – do it all in the name of Jesus and do it with thankfulness to God.

My prayer for all of us is that as we journey through these uncertain times, each of us would allow this season of Thanksgiving to be an opportunity to renew our thankfulness to God. Because, no matter what we suffer, or how deeply we suffer, or how long we’re forced to wait for healing and relief, God has claimed us in Christ and promised this forever – and this my friends should give us endless reasons to be thankful.

With this in mind then, I wonder how you would choose to live differently for the remainder of this challenging year and beyond? What doors might God be opening in the inconveniences, the struggles, and the uncertainty to come? Because, if we do all that we do with thankfulness on our minds and in our hearts, then I also think we’ll be far more likely to recognize the doors as God opens them. 

So, I’d like to say how thankful I am for all of you and for the gift of being one of your pastors. Thank you for your love, trust, understanding, compassion, partnership, encouragement, honesty, and your wrestling. But most of all I’d like to thank you for continuing to walk this journey of faith and life together.

I thank God every time I think of you! Thanks be to God! Amen.

Pastor Tony

Looking Forward, Looking Back

Going to university in the United States is different than in my country. In the place where I grew up, university options are few and the application processes are different and much shorter. Few people live on campus, so your choices are limited to what is on the local bus line for daily commuting. Here the processes are longer and there are more requirements in the process of applying. I experienced this myself when I went to seminary. I was blessed because God put people on my path who guided me throughout my process. And to be honest, as I looked for a Lutheran seminary that would allow me to stay in Waukesha, I didn’t need to explore many options. But for many young people, there are a multitude of options. More options are wonderful things, but the flip side is that it makes the decision more stressful.

But what happens to those young immigrants who want to go to university but do not have anyone to explain it to them and walk with them in that process? As part of my new position, I am leading the high school ministry. Many of the high school juniors and seniors I am working with are going through the process of choosing and applying for college. If I don’t know what this process looks like, it makes it difficult for me to have empathy and understanding for what these young people are experiencing.

This fall, I have the opportunity to accompany a young woman from the Latino ministry as she visits some universities. We had the opportunity to attend Warhawk Preview Day at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater and later on we will be attending a similar day at the ELCA’s own Carthage College. Both the young woman and I learned about the steps needed to be accepted into schools. Not only did we learn about the application process, but we were also able to obtain information about the costs and scholarships available, especially in this particular situation, for immigrants. The costs of studying are high but there are various options to obtain scholarships and help with costs. This was a wonderful experience for me because I had the opportunity to learn about and experience the process of choosing a university in the United States. As a Latino Pastor, I believe that it is important to know about these processes because it will allow me to give better guidance to those young people who want to go to university but do not have anyone to walk with them. I also am able to more fully understand the pressure our CRASH families face as they fill out mountains of paperwork and balance the options to make the best decision for their future.

While our high school families are looking to the future, at this time of the year our Latino families are preparing to remember loved ones that have passed away. As many of you already know, the Day of the Dead is a celebration that takes place in the first days of the month of November in Latin American countries. The celebrations in many countries are different. In some places the celebration consists of visiting the cemetery on November 2 and decorating the grave with flowers. Families usually bring food, drinks and even music to brighten the time. In other countries, the party is a little more extensive and bigger. The decorations are not only carried out in the cemetery but are also carried out in each of the homes.

As a way to honor these traditions, on Sunday, Nov. 5, we will create a small altar so families can bring their photos and flowers. After the worship, we invite you to join our potluck lunch and to watch the movie Coco (in Spanish)  in West Hall. We hope you join us!

Pastor Edwin